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Five moments from the Raptors’ Game 7 win over Miami

The fourth quarter had a New Year's Eve feel to it as Raptors fans celebrated.

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The home crowd in and outside of the ACC got exactly what it wanted as Toronto dominated Miami 116-89 and earned a spot in the Eastern Conference Final against LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers.

By Chris O'LearySports Reporter

Sun., May 15, 2016

This isn’t the first time the Toronto Raptors have been good. There have been a few — not a lot, but a few— good years before this one. There was a second-round battle 15 years ago that ended in heartbreak. There have been 48- and 49-win seasons that ended in disappointment. There have been superstars who have risen, then left and reintroduced the city to heartbreak. After 21 years of varying degrees of disappointment, the Raptors have finally met expectations.

With their 116-89 win over the Miami Heat in Sunday’s Game 7, the Raptors are where the optimists thought they could be as their 56-win season unfolded. They’ll meet LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers on Tuesday in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Final.

An opportunity slips by

Dwyane Wade picked his second foul of the game with 5:22 left in the first quarter, which revved up a rowdy Raptors crowd. While the fans could smell blood, the scent went undetected on the court. With Wade sitting next to a resting Goran Dragic, the Raptors led 16-11 but were unable to run up the score. Miami out-scored Toronto 13-9 in Wade’s absence, with the Raptors holding a 25-24 edge after the first quarter. Wade returned and played 16:52 in the half, avoiding another whistle while scoring 10 points on 4-7 shooting.

Ross, Patterson do their part

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When he checks into a game, you never really know what you might get from Terrence Ross. The Raptors’ shooting guard had one turnover upon arriving into the game late in the first quarter but made an impact in the second. He pulled up and hit a tough three to get the second quarter going, then stood his ground with Wade steamrolling his way toward him at the basket and came away from it with a steal. He then drove to the bucket for a nice finish for his fourth and fifth points of the game and stayed active on defence, deflecting passes. Patterson had five points and five rebounds as the Raptors held a six-point lead at the half.

Raptors fans brave the cold and warm up to the score as Toronto beats Miami in Game 7. (Lucas Oleniuk / Toronto Star) | Order this photo

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Raptors make a run

The Heat got within four in the opening seconds of the third quarter, but buckets grew hard to come by as Lowry got hot and the Raptors clamped down defensively. The Raptors point guard was fouled on a three, then hit a tough one from deep over Wade. DeMarre Carroll then found Lowry for a layup, which gave the Raptors a 10-point lead. DeRozan got hot in the quarter too, scoring 11 points and helping the Raptors open up a 17-point lead. With Lowry on the bench for the final 2:15, Miami cut that to eight. Toronto’s second run, which pushed the lead to 20 midway through the fourth, did the damage.

Whistles help

While Lowry was plagued by foul trouble in Game 6, the whistles went more toward him and his teammates on Sunday. The calls were fairly even in total (29 against Miami, 21 against Toronto) but, this time around, it was the Heat’s Dragic who was hampered by fouls, after picking up three of his four in the third quarter. He was saddled with his fifth with nine minutes left in the game. Josh Richardson picked up his fifth foul in the third quarter and, with the Heat already missing Hassan Whiteside and Chris Bosh in the series, Miami’s limited roster forced a more conservative game, which led to the Heat’s demise down the stretch.

An incredible crowd

The 20,257 fans at the Air Canada Centre didn’t have to urge their team to the win the way they did two weeks ago in the Raptors’ Game 7 against the Pacers. The fourth quarter had a New Year’s Eve feel to it, with the fans on their feet as the clock ticked away and their team ran up the score on the Heat, going up 20 with four minutes to go and the Heat clearly defeated. Miami gave up offensive rebounds, let Raptors shots fly uncontested and watched Lowry calmly bury a three to make it a 111-86 game. The building erupted all afternoon and Jurassic Park celebrated through a cold, wet eight-degree afternoon, chanting “We want Cleveland” as the Raptors fought their way into their first Eastern Conference final.

What Raptors fans had to say about the win

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